Alexa Powers Uber Eats Delivery Updates

Consumers can now ask Alexa for the status of their Uber Eats orders.

The integration of Uber Eats with Amazon Echo devices in the United States enables real-time, hands-free order tracking via the voice assistant, the companies said in a Thursday (May 4) press release.

“We know that consumers are busier than ever before and we are excited to launch our integration with Alexa that unlocks new ways to simplify the experience to help consumers to get anything, from anywhere — which is always our priority,” Uber Lead Product Manager Ethan Hollinshead said in the release.

PYMNTS research has found that hands-free voice technologies offer a transformative opportunity to consumers who want to enhance their everyday routines by making commonplace actions smarter, simpler and more connected.

Around one-third of Americans already use voice to conduct at least six different everyday tasks like getting information, turning TVs and appliances on and off, and ordering food, groceries or Ubers, according to “How Consumers Want to Live in the Voice Economy.”

In addition to enabling consumers to ask Alexa for updates, the new integration with Uber Eats also allows them to set up notifications about the progress of the delivery — such as when an order is being prepared, when it’s on the way and when it’s been delivered, according to the press release.

These notifications can be delivered through one or all of the customers’ devices and announced by Alexa or provided by a light on the Echo device that shows a change in delivery status and prompts the user to ask for details about the update, the release said.

The “ambient experience” delivered by Alexa allows users to be with family and friends without having to check for delivery status on mobile apps, Mark Yoshitake, general manager and director of Alexa skills at Amazon, said in the release.

“Now, customers can settle in for their favorite movie and trust Alexa to let them know when their driver is approaching with their order or update them if there is a material change to the estimate delivery time,” Yoshitake said. “It’s yet another example of how Alexa is helping make customers’ lives easier.”

The integration with Alexa joins those with Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri that Uber Eats announced over the past year, according to the release.

As PYMNTS reported Thursday (May 4), the news of this latest integration came on the same day that voice artificial intelligence (AI) company SoundHound announced a partnership with cloud technology giant Oracle to bring the former’s restaurant ordering technology to the latter’s MICROS Simphony Point-of-Sale (POS) for Restaurants.